Friday, July 22, 2011
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Over The Top
I am so excited to be going to the Women of Faith Conference in Dallas this year. I have been going to Women of Faith for many years. I started out going with my daughter. Then we started getting a group together from our church. We rent a van and stay in a beautiful hotel. We have a couple of husbands who willingly put up with a lot of talkative women and they chauffeur to all the sessions. This year I'm looking forward to having my daughter-in-law fly in from Tennessee to go with us.
Can't say enough about Women of Faith. All of the speakers are excellent. I look forward to it all year long. I am a member and receive devotionals and other information all year long.
God uses women of Fait h in so many ways to touch so many lives.
Can't say enough about Women of Faith. All of the speakers are excellent. I look forward to it all year long. I am a member and receive devotionals and other information all year long.
God uses women of Fait h in so many ways to touch so many lives.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
God's Grace
Must tell this. The weekend before we left I broke a filling (I thought it was a tooth) Went to dentist on Monday and she fixed the filling but said it was possible the tooth was cracked and if I had problems to chew on the other side. Not exactly what you want to hear when going halfway round the world. Everything was fine. On Monday in Joburg, we went to visit with the pastor's family we knew and the tooth began to throb a bit. At the end of the evening, when we prayed, I mentioned my tooth and prayed that it would not be a problem while we were in Mautirius. The tooth never throbbed or gave me any other trouble! Praise the Lord!!
Monday, April 4, 2011
Back in Johannesburg
We are now back in Johannesburg. It is rainy and cool!!! We had pizza yesterday for lunch! YUM!!! We will do some traveling to Kruger to see the wildlife and see some of the other sites around here and then head home Monday evening.
First Lay Renewal Weekend
Our first Lay Renewal was at the Baptist Church of the North (BCN) in Grand Bay. We were staying in Blue Bay at the south end of the island and Grand Bay is at the north end of the island. We dropped a team off at Curepipe (Curepeep) and a team off at Goodlands.
The weekend began on Friday night with a dinner. At BCN we ate standing up in the Courtyard. We were on a tropical island which interpreted means hot and humid or hotter and humid or hot and humider. You get the idea. Needless to say we sweat a LOT!
Friday night consisted of singing, testimony, teaching and small groups where the church people got a chance to share what they expected for the weekend, what the teaching meant to them and other questions intended to draw them out and make them think about their spiritual life. Ben and I, being newbies, were prayer partners to the ones leading the group session. The people were very good at sharing so we didn’t end up staring at one another.
Saturday morning we had coffees in the homes. The coffee group I was in shared very openly about their struggles, prayer requests, answered prayers, etc. Then it was back to the church for lunch. (When we had a break, I would tell people “’Til we eat again”) J After lunch the men and women broke into groups to share. The ladies’ group talked about women’s ministry and we were very surprised when several women spoke of their ministry (prison, after-school) that the other women were not aware of. Several women told others they would like to get involved. They need an organizer! At the closing prayer, I thanked God that these women had outreach ministry but I prayed that God would put it upon some hearts for “inreach” so the ladies could meet together to pray, talk, encourage and inspire one another.
Saturday night we had singing, testimonies, teaching and small groups. In these small groups, we asked people to share the time they first gave their hearts to Christ. We asked them to think about what they had heard in the teaching and about their commitment to Christ. We all then wrote a letter to Jesus. That was something new to me but was very meaningful. I think that is something we should do from time to time.
Sunday morning was the Sunday worship, teaching and a time of commitment. Many people came for prayer, recommitment, salvation.
After church we were to leave at 1:00 to reverse course, pick up the other teams and return to Blue Bay. However, one of our hosts wanted to have our team for lunch and they prevailed upon our leader to postpone our departure until 3:30. We had a lovely lunch in an outside dining area overlooking the ocean.
Let me just interject here that when I say we took a van and dropped off the teams, it was a 23-24 passenger van. We were a total of 20 people PLUS luggage. We were able to take one suitcase per couple with just the things we needed for the weekend. That luggage plus any small carry-ons went WITH us inside the van (Did I mention the van was un-air-conditioned?)
We Americans are so used to our creature comforts. We had no air-conditioning in rooms, churches,or vans.
The weekend began on Friday night with a dinner. At BCN we ate standing up in the Courtyard. We were on a tropical island which interpreted means hot and humid or hotter and humid or hot and humider. You get the idea. Needless to say we sweat a LOT!
Friday night consisted of singing, testimony, teaching and small groups where the church people got a chance to share what they expected for the weekend, what the teaching meant to them and other questions intended to draw them out and make them think about their spiritual life. Ben and I, being newbies, were prayer partners to the ones leading the group session. The people were very good at sharing so we didn’t end up staring at one another.
Saturday morning we had coffees in the homes. The coffee group I was in shared very openly about their struggles, prayer requests, answered prayers, etc. Then it was back to the church for lunch. (When we had a break, I would tell people “’Til we eat again”) J After lunch the men and women broke into groups to share. The ladies’ group talked about women’s ministry and we were very surprised when several women spoke of their ministry (prison, after-school) that the other women were not aware of. Several women told others they would like to get involved. They need an organizer! At the closing prayer, I thanked God that these women had outreach ministry but I prayed that God would put it upon some hearts for “inreach” so the ladies could meet together to pray, talk, encourage and inspire one another.
Saturday night we had singing, testimonies, teaching and small groups. In these small groups, we asked people to share the time they first gave their hearts to Christ. We asked them to think about what they had heard in the teaching and about their commitment to Christ. We all then wrote a letter to Jesus. That was something new to me but was very meaningful. I think that is something we should do from time to time.
Sunday morning was the Sunday worship, teaching and a time of commitment. Many people came for prayer, recommitment, salvation.
After church we were to leave at 1:00 to reverse course, pick up the other teams and return to Blue Bay. However, one of our hosts wanted to have our team for lunch and they prevailed upon our leader to postpone our departure until 3:30. We had a lovely lunch in an outside dining area overlooking the ocean.
Let me just interject here that when I say we took a van and dropped off the teams, it was a 23-24 passenger van. We were a total of 20 people PLUS luggage. We were able to take one suitcase per couple with just the things we needed for the weekend. That luggage plus any small carry-ons went WITH us inside the van (Did I mention the van was un-air-conditioned?)
We Americans are so used to our creature comforts. We had no air-conditioning in rooms, churches,or vans.
Second Lay Renewal Weekend
BCN was an English speaking church. Most of the people were white. The church was very much like a church we are accustomed to.
Victory Baptist Church in Rose Belle was a local church meeting in a converted house. It was filled with locals who were black or Indian, spoke French and Creole, knew some English (understood it better than they spoke it) so there was interpretation both from English to French and French to English.
These people were the most loving, energetic, outgoing Christians. In BCN there was some of the double-cheek kissing the French are known for but these people did it all the time. Didn’t take long to get used to this. Women with women, men with women. Actually a nice custom.
We (they) sang in English, French and Creole. This church did have an air-conditioner (Praise the Lord) that kept the church at least comfortable. However, the chairs were MOST uncomfortable. Folding chairs with seats that were, pardon the expression, straight as a board, with straight backs as well.
Small groups were wonderful. The people were very gracious about having the interpretation done.
This weekend was a repeat of the first weekend but I LOVED being in this church. I am very thankful that I had my first Lay Renewal in the English speaking church so I could see how the Lay Renewal was done. But being in the local church gave such a rich flavor to the experience.
I know I was touched by these people and the Lord definitely had several things to say to me through them and through the teaching and we can only pray that their lives were touched as well.
It is impossible in a blog to relate all the wonderful interactions, testimonies, worship and sharing that we experienced in these weekends..
Victory Baptist Church in Rose Belle was a local church meeting in a converted house. It was filled with locals who were black or Indian, spoke French and Creole, knew some English (understood it better than they spoke it) so there was interpretation both from English to French and French to English.
These people were the most loving, energetic, outgoing Christians. In BCN there was some of the double-cheek kissing the French are known for but these people did it all the time. Didn’t take long to get used to this. Women with women, men with women. Actually a nice custom.
We (they) sang in English, French and Creole. This church did have an air-conditioner (Praise the Lord) that kept the church at least comfortable. However, the chairs were MOST uncomfortable. Folding chairs with seats that were, pardon the expression, straight as a board, with straight backs as well.
Small groups were wonderful. The people were very gracious about having the interpretation done.
This weekend was a repeat of the first weekend but I LOVED being in this church. I am very thankful that I had my first Lay Renewal in the English speaking church so I could see how the Lay Renewal was done. But being in the local church gave such a rich flavor to the experience.
I know I was touched by these people and the Lord definitely had several things to say to me through them and through the teaching and we can only pray that their lives were touched as well.
It is impossible in a blog to relate all the wonderful interactions, testimonies, worship and sharing that we experienced in these weekends..
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